- Research for BBC’s Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour has named the English local authority of West Oxfordshire as the best place to live in England if you are a woman.
Continue reading “It’s Official – West Oxfordshire best in England!”
Author: macwitney
Located in central Witney we pride ourselves on bringing a new level of personal & proactive letting, sales & investment services to vendors and landlords.
How do schools affect house prices?
As the new school year gets underway, it seems timely to revisit the well-oiled notion that schools are an instrumental driver of local house prices.
If a property is located within a popular local school catchment, this is often one of the first attributes to be included on agents’ sales particulars, even before how many bedrooms the property has. But, how much more are home buyers prepared to pay to live close to an outstanding school? What impact does that Ofsted rating really have on local house prices?
Our analysis uses Land Registry data for property sales completed in 2016 and 2017 (to present), which totals over 860,000 transactions. Meanwhile, the DfE secondary school database has been cross referenced with Ofsted which totals over 3,200 schools. Average house prices have been calculated for bandings of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 miles from each school dependent on whether or not the latest Ofsted report for the school was graded outstanding. On this occasion, we have excluded London from this analysis since the closer proximity of schools together means that the distance bandings tend to overlap and affect the analysis.
The results of our analysis reveal that there is a definite price premium associated to homes close to outstanding schools. Properties located within one mile of an outstanding secondary school since the beginning of 2016 have sold for, on average, 20% more than properties within one mile of other schools across England, excluding London. This equates to an average premium of almost £47,000.
We have broken the analysis down by property type and the highest premiums paid to live closest to outstanding schools are for detached houses. Since the beginning of 2016, buyers have paid, on average, 28% more to live in a detached house within one mile of an outstanding school compared to within one mile of a non-outstanding school. This means buyers have had to find an extra £88,000.
Overall, the price premium drops off after one mile except for detached and semi-detached houses. Buyers of these homes are still prepared to pay a premium to live within one to two miles of an outstanding school. For detached homes this equates to 10% or an additional £35,000 and for semi-detached homes the premium is 7% or just under £14,000.
Buyers in the East of England pay the highest premiums overall for living close to outstanding schools. Since the beginning of 2016, properties within one mile of an outstanding school have sold, on average, for 46% more than those within one mile of other schools, a price premium of almost £117,000.
Witney has one outstanding primary school – The Batt CofE Primary School. However, we’re blessed with a plethora of ‘good’ rated primary schools. At secondary level, the nearest outstanding school is Bartholemew in Eynsham although both Henry Box and Wood Green are ‘good.’
The latest government report (2017) into Key Stage 2 saw 77% of pupils at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School achieved the expected standard. The next best Primary school in this respect was The Batt CofE School at 69%, followed by West Witney (66%), Witney Community (64%) and Madley Brook (63%).
What Property Makes the BEST Investment in West Oxfordshire?
I was recently asked by WODC to put together a brief paper on the local Private Rented Sector (PRS) to help inform a cabinet level debate. Having done the legwork I thought I’d share my findings with you as some light reading. The aim of this is to help any potential buy-to-let investors make an informed decision about the type of property to purchase. Continue reading “What Property Makes the BEST Investment in West Oxfordshire?”
How to Beat the Tax Changes – More Rules for Landlords
Landlords who own four or more mortgaged buy-to-let properties can soon expect lenders to look across their whole portfolio if they want to apply for a mortgage on a new property.
Continue reading “How to Beat the Tax Changes – More Rules for Landlords”
What next for West Oxfordshire property values?
The interesting times in which we live continue; political uncertainty, continued ultra-low interest rates and the creeping rise of inflation are all having an impact on local property prices. Focussing on Witney and Carterton and specifically looking at houses (excluding new builds) sold over the last 5 years, it’s interesting to note that there has been a see-saw effect: Continue reading “What next for West Oxfordshire property values?”
The growing market – the impact of migration and the retirement generation on West Oxfordshire property prices
In their election rhetoric all the political parties informed us that the UK is experiencing a ‘housing crisis’, with all promising to deliver an additional million homes by the end of 2022. But what homes are needed and for whom? Here we look at one specific and growing market, the retirement generation.
Supply of Witney Rental Property Hits Record Levels
The supply of certain types of privately rented properties in Witney is currently well above average and, in some cases, hitting record levels. This is particularly true of 2-bedroom flats and 3-bedroom houses although there has also been a spike in 2-bedroom houses. Continue reading “Supply of Witney Rental Property Hits Record Levels”
What is Happening with the West Oxfordshire Rental Market?
Interestingly, we’ve seen a surge in the availability of rental properties being offered in the local market. This is particularly acute in relation to 2-bedroom properties in Witney, there are now 48 listed TO LET of which 31 are flats. Once we ‘zoom out’ slightly, the picture is less worrying, with only nine 2-bed properties listed in Carterton, this is below the usual norm. Interestingly, supply currently exceeds demand for 3-bedroom houses too, but this should rebalance as families aim to move during the school holidays. Here’s the latest availability for properties in Witney to rent: Continue reading “What is Happening with the West Oxfordshire Rental Market?”
EXPECTED RETURNS OF 6.4 – 8.75%
Martin & Co Birmingham are currently working with a developer and have 33 one-bedroom apartments available to offer to our landlords.
Prices are £65-£70k with expected returns of 6.4-8.75%
For further details, CLICK HERE
Call us on 01993 708638 to register your interest.
How energy efficient is West Oxfordshire property?
Are We Building Enough New Homes?
Since the 1970s, housing starts and completions across England and Wales have largely been on a downward trajectory.
The long-run average (over the last 50 years) for starts and completions has been around 190,000 per annum but after the global financial crisis lows of 93,000 (starts) per annum and 113,000 per annum (completions) had been reached.
The Six Secrets of Fabulous Property Photography
There are many elements that go into making great property photography; the weather, equipment, the skill and experience of the photographer. But, did you know that there many ways you can increase the chances of achieving fantastic images of your home? You need to ensure the images of your house not only do it justice, but also, more importantly, indicate the kind of lifestyle that a buyer can aspire to. Here are some of our suggestions to do just that:
Continue reading “The Six Secrets of Fabulous Property Photography”
What impact might the General Election have on the housing market?
COMPETITION TIME
Calling all tenants
If you rent your home & you’re particularly proud of your garden, we’d love to see it! As it’s National Gardening Week and with Chelsea Flower Show coming up, we would like to see the BEST garden in West Oxfordshire!
Send us a photo of your garden and on the 29th May, we’ll announce the winner .
Send entries to witney@martinco.com. Include your name, address & phone number.
Entries close midnight on Sunday 28th May 2017.
Witney Events Calendar
Download your copy of Witney Events Calendar HERE so that you don’t miss out on any of the exciting events planned for 2017!
How has the affordability of Oxfordshire housing changed over the last 14 years?
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have just released their latest figures regarding housing affordability ratios. These are calculated by dividing house prices by gross annual residence-based earnings and can be used to track how affordable average homes are across Oxfordshire. Continue reading “How has the affordability of Oxfordshire housing changed over the last 14 years?”
FREE 60 Second Property Valuation
Want to know what your property is worth?
Quick, easy and free; if you want a guide valuation simply click the link above and find out now!
5 Reasons Why West Oxfordshire Rents will buck the Regional Trend
Source: Homelet Rental Index (January 2017 data)
Continue reading “5 Reasons Why West Oxfordshire Rents will buck the Regional Trend”
Is building homes in factories the solution to the UK housing crisis?
The chronic shortage of housing supply in the UK relative to demand has been a national issue for decades. The Government are committed to delivering a million new homes by 2020. Yet with limited land availability, rising costs and shortage of skilled labour the government and the house building industry need to become innovative with regards to how housing is built if those targets are to be met. Continue reading “Is building homes in factories the solution to the UK housing crisis?”
A Tale of 2 Towns – an in-depth look at the West-Oxfordshire Property Market
Are there fundamental differences in the Witney vs Carterton property markets? Let’s take a look. Both situated in rural West Oxfordshire and just under 6 miles apart you’d think they’d be very similar. Start scratching beneath the surface and some key differences start to appear: Continue reading “A Tale of 2 Towns – an in-depth look at the West-Oxfordshire Property Market”